Earth Changes

The oarfish caught by a fisherman in Antique. Oarfish are deep-sea dwellers and scientists are still trying to find out why some oarfish swim to the surface.

Julie Miranda was fishing in Barangay Indalog here on Thursday when he saw a shark chasing a big fish.

Shortly after, the shark swam off and the big fish started to float.

Miranda loaded the fish onto his boat and brought it to shore.

But the fish was no ordinary find. It was a 3-meter long oarfish weighing 14 kg.

"It was our first time to see a very big and very long fish in this town. Even the old villagers do not know the local name of this fish," said Lourdes Sarad, municipal agricultural officer of Tobias Fornier.

Oarfish, or king of herrings, was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bony fish to be recorded in 2015.

The longest oarfish, which was hit by a steamship, was 13.7 meters, longer than a bus.

Comment: This is the third report of oarfish emerging from the deep sea since April, here are the others -

A giant dead whale was found at Mogaveerapatna sea shore on Friday morning July 24.

The 15 feet body of the fish was in completely decomposes state. As the stray dogs started barking, Praveen Kotian a local resident and member of life guards association reached the place and found the dead whale.

He then informed the matter to the police and Ullala purasabha members. Police and purasabha officers rushed to the spot and a huge crowd of enthusiast people gathered at the spot.

An adult pygmy sperm whale was found dead Wednesday morning on the shores of on Maui.

According to David Schofield of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA's Marine Mammal Response Network responded to reports of the beached whale at around 6:30 a.m. By the time crews arrived, the 985-pound whale was confirmed dead.

A Hawaiian cultural practitioner was called to perform a blessing over the whale, Schofield said, before crews transported the carcass to Oahu via Aloha Air Cargo, where it was then taken to Hawaii Pacific University.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. that night, a necropsy was performed and officials determined the animal appeared healthy, meaning there were no clear signs of disease. However, there was a fracture near the whale's jaw area.